Amigos' NBA Previews: Detroit Pistons

Recent Past They beat the hall of famey Lakers and won their title, and they were really good for a while, and then some stuff happened and they weren't as good anymore. Got slaughtered by Cleveland in the playoffs. There you go.

Offseason They grabbed Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, leaving some...well, most...to question if the Billups-AI deal was really worth shit. They also added Chris Wilcox, and drafted a couple...dudes. Oh, and Ben Wallace came back, which is kind of neat. Amir Johnson, Arron Afflalo, Rasheed Wallace, Walter Herrmann and Antonio McDyess all left.

Probable lineup Rodney Stuckey, Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Charlie Villanueva, and...Kwame Brown. Will Bynum, Ben Gordon, Chris Wilcox, Jason Maxiell, Ben Wallace, and probably someone they drafted as key subs. So, yea.

General overview Look. This is a pretty decent team. That lineup...it's not bad. It's nice. There, is that enough moderate adjectives to convince you that this is a fucking run of the mill team? Good.

They should do the whole "lower-rung" playoff thing pretty well, and maybe they can even sneak as high as four or five in the East if shit really goes right. But then again, it wouldn't be shocking to see them really have to eek out a playoff spot, and considering their recent history, and the way this mini-rebuild was presented...that's not good enough.

I like Stuckey and Bynum, but they both seem to really just be really good backup point guards for a true contender. Gordon and Rip are both starting 2s for most teams, and I have no idea how that's going to work out without at least one of them getting pissed. Tayshaun is a nice player, seen as the glue guy by most, he was very useful when they were an elite team. But he's not going to be a star. Charlie Villanueva...again, another pretty nice player, he'll do well, but not great or anything. Nobody on this team is even meant to be a real star, and they aren't really vaguely reminiscent of that '04 team that was presented as the ultimate "team". So, basically? What the fuck?

Oh, Kwame. They have Kwame.

If they were a hip hop act The Pharcyde. Except when they started breaking up, and it just got to be sort of sad that they were still calling themselves The Pharcyde. The title=Bizarre Ride. The post-title goodness=Labcabincalifornia. And last year/this=...everything else. So there you go.

Guessing how they'll do Like I said, they're alright, but just so decidedly not that great. They'll be a nice playoff team, and that's about it. I'd be pretty surprised if they advance in the playoffs, but then again, who knows.

...All the Words Past the Margins

A random assortment of stuff

- It's mostly been a lot of "meh" at Wimbledon so far, but today's match between Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick was quite an enjoyable exception. Five sets, all of them close, with a very high standard of play. Roddick's victory sets up a semifinal with Andy Murray, who he's beaten just twice in eight attempts. Tommy Haas upset Novak Djokavic in four sets to set up a semi with some guy named Roger.

- So, it looks like Ben Gordon (and Charlie Villanueva) might end up in Detroit. This is just a bit lamer than getting Bosh, Wade, or LeBron, I guess.

- Nacional-Estudiantes and Inter-Corinthians tonight. Estudiantes beat Nacional 1-0 in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores semifinal, and Corinthians take a 2-0 advantage into tonight's second leg of the Copa do Brasil final. Both ties are still pretty wide open, so it should be pretty good stuff. Basically, it's just sort of nice to have meaningful club football.

- Rudy to return to Europe? Alright, probably not. But, still, it seems sort of bizarre for this rumor to even exist.

Boozer and Okur stay; Impact on Britishy Gordon

So, the Jazz are going to keep at least two of the three bigmen that could have potentially left this summer. Good for them, I guess. I don't know, it's hard for me to get too excited about anything that happens with Utah. I sort of hate them, but in a totally passive way. But, whatever. This means Utah will still be pretty good, as they have been for a little while now. Can they make that next step? I don't know. They looked very good at times this season, but slumped in the end and had to endure a beating from the Lakers.

Paul Millsap's situation is still unresolved, and I'd guess that this news would make the Jazz less likely to throw big money at him. They'd have to go into the luxury tax to resign him, and that's just not something a lot of owners like to do. Especially owners of small market teams. But, who knows. The list of Milsap's potential suitors is pretty interesting. You'd sort of expect Detroit to be interested, but OKC and Memphis are odd names. I mean, we all know that Marc Gasol is the shit, and the Grizz just drafted Thabeet. OKC look relatively set right now, with a promising young lineup of Westbrook-Harden-Durant-Green-Krstic. But Millsap is young, and they're unlikely to sign a big name next summer. So, why not, I guess.

Anyway, the far more interesting (alright, maybe not) impact of this news is the effect it has Ben "I didn't realise Mount Vernon was in the UK" Gordon (at least, Pete Rock* never told me it was in the UK). Now it seems to be either Gordon or Millsap for the Pistons, unless they're going to hold off to next summer (they aren't going to do that). Right now, it looks like the Pistons really need a big man. Sheed and McDyess could both be leaving, and Austin Daye isn't a real big dude. Millsap's a very good fit, you'd think. But Ben Gordon is dreamy. And I'm pretty sure the Pistons would instantly become the biggest thing in Great Britain if they signed him, because Gordon's leading them to gold in 2012. Him and Luol Deng. Wait. Shouldn't the Bulls already be huge there? Are they? We need answers.

*Water No Get Enemy just came on, and I'd never realised that this was the sample on Grown Man Sport. I've heard both tracks plenty of times. How bizarre.

Curry Fired, Interrupts Speculation on Stephon Marbury's Destination

So, this happened. Just now, apparently.

It's hard to really say too much about the job Michael Curry did in Detroit, just because the situation turned out to be so dreadful. Dumars obviously wasn't really aiming to win last season, instead looking toward the rumored (as in, I'm not even sure it exists) free agent class of 2010. Granted, the talent the Pistons did have still should have gotten them more than 39 wins, but how many more? Hell if I know. I'm not sure if it was bad enough to fire Curry, and I'm pretty sure Doug Collins (if that's who they hire) isn't really any better. But the Pistons are going to sign Ben Gordon, so who cares about the coach? Everything will be alright with Ben Gordon.